Tirana returns to win Albanian Cup titles after long pause

Teams from Tirana were the dominant force in the finals of the Albanian Cup, with both the men’s and women’s trophy going to sides from Albania’s capital city. The ‘Blue-and-Whites’ managed this in style, sweeping aside the opponents in the finals and returning to win the second most-coveted trophy in Albanian Volleyball after a long period.

For Tirana’s women, it was a return to the top of the charts after 11 years, as the players coached by Amarilda Prenga-Sijoni beat Skënderbeu in straight sets. The capital’s team marched through the first set, leading all the way and never looking back towards a landslide 25-15 win.

The second set was an evenly balanced affair, with both teams fighting for every point in the first half of it. Though Skënderbeu tried to break away in the second half, Tirana roared back, with both teams cancelling each-other’s set points, before Prenga’s girls won the set 28-26, thus doubling their lead.

The third set turned out to be a disappointing one for Tatjana Marash’s team (with the club director acting as the coach of Skënderbeu women’s team), as the team from southeast Albania were all the time trailing behind Tirana. Their rivals seized a 25-20 score, thus winning the whole contest 3-0 and the Albanian Cup for the first time after more than a decade. Moreover, it was sweet revenge for Tirana, as they lost just a few days ago in four sets to Skënderbeu in the final of the inaugural women’s “Gjergj Kastrioti” League, the newly formed competition featuring teams from Albania and Kosovo.

Meanwhile, it was a much longer wait for Tirana’s men, who won the Albanian Cup after 26 seasons. Coach Ben Sako’s team has dominated thus far in Albania, winning the season’s opener, the Federation’s Cup, before securing the Independence Cup last November in Pristina, and the inaugural men’s “Gjergj Kastrioti” League just a few days ago.  

In the finals of the last two tournaments, Tirana had beaten Erzeni and the last stage of the Albanian Cup set the capital city’s team one more time against the squad from the small town of Shijak. This final was no different from the previous two encounters between the two teams. Tirana took the first set 25-22, but Erzeni, led by their young coach, Parit Uruçi, bounced back fighting, taking the second set 25-21. However, the ‘Blue-and-Whites’ returned dominant, taking the other two sets by a comfortable margin, 25-14 and 25-16, to take home the trophy after a 3-1 victory.